• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Gustavo Arnal former CFO of Bed, Bath and Beyond found dead

Status
Not open for further replies.


Note this is under investigation as of this posting.


Some of the speculation to the CFO's death is being tied to budget cuts at Bed, Bath and Beyond outlets.
 
Brings to mind the old phrase: It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop.
After falling 18 stories, is that sudden stop a Thud or a Thump?

CNN has said he jumped while other outlets say "He fell".
His wife apparently witnessed the incident. We probably shouldn't be cracking wise, but it certainly sounds like he found his exit strategy from the companies financial troubles...
 
yeah, this had "suicide to avoid prison" written all over it, it's clear he committed crimes and knew the feds were coming for him so he took his own life to avoid prison.
That's a mean supposition. My thinking is that he was depressed by the company's inability to reverse its economic decline due to the record-shattering inflation and the starting signs of a major recession.

Or, simply, he may have had personal issues. We don't know.

Bed, Bath and Beyond is a public corporation with outside directors and independent auditors. It's known for being very transparent. So accusing one of their executives of malfeasance with zero evidence is totally unfair.
 
Last edited:
After falling 18 stories, is that sudden stop a Thud or a Thump?

CNN has said he jumped while other outlets say "He fell".
His wife apparently witnessed the incident. We probably shouldn't be cracking wise, but it certainly sounds like he found his exit strategy from the companies(sic) financial troubles...
The financial "troubles" at BB&B are those of all companies that depend on discretionary income to buy non-essential products. That $300 espresso machine or the new percale sheets will have to wait, just as trading in the car, remodeling the kitchen or something new for the fall wardrobe.

The issue is not BB&B: it is our economy in general and the 8% inflation rate plus the malaise caused by nearly 3 years of the pandemic.

An executive who was so concerned about the sustainability of his company and the jobs of their employees should never take their own life. But one has to be saddened that the situation is so negative that the people involved may not find any immediate solution and become desperate.

And, for all we know he may have been having family or health issues that were not related to BB&B.
 
Last edited:
The financial "troubles" at BB&B are those of all companies that depend on discretionary income to buy non-essential products. That $300 espresso machine or the new percale sheets will have to wait, just as trading in the car, remodeling the kitchen or something new for the fall wardrobe.

The issue is not BB&B: it is our economy in general and the 8% inflation rate plus the malaise caused by nearly 3 years of the pandemic.

An executive who was so concerned about the sustainability of his company and the jobs of their employees should never take their own life. But one has to be saddened that the situation is so negative that the people involved may not find any immediate solution and become desperate.

And, for all we know he may have been having family or health issues that were not related to BB&B.

Bed Bath and Beyond was in distress before the now deceased CFO joined the company. According to the bio he joined in 2020 when there was the COVID-19 shutdown when the company went through rough times from the previous recession to boycotting via contract termination of Mike Lindell over his role on January 6th, 2021. But then again who knows the real reason why the CFO left the way he did is up to the coroner's report.


 
Last edited:
Bed Bath and Beyond was in distress before the now deceased CFO joined the company. According to the bio he joined in 2020 when there was the COVID-19 shutdown when the company went through rough times from the previous recession to boycotting via contract termination of Mike Lindell over his role on January 6th, 2021. But then again who knows the real reason why the CFO left the way he did is up to the coroner's report.
We know the way he died... he left his high-floor apartment in one of Manhattan's tallest "thin condos" via the balcony.

The real question is whether he had personal issues or he was overwhelmed by the apparent failure to reverse the decline of BB&B through multiple strategy changes, beginning even before he joined the company. And it appeared that they had a comeback plan, based on returning to brand names rather than house brands, but that seemingly never got off the ground due to the last 8 months of record-setting inflation... which has impacted all discretionary and high-end retail.
 
but that seemingly never got off the ground due to the last 8 months of record-setting inflation... which has impacted all discretionary and high-end retail.
BB&B launched that brand name strategy only a few weeks ago -- probably too recently for it to have shown any effects, positive or negative.

But yes, the Home goods category as a whole has taken a significant decline the last 6-12 months. Probably a combination of rising prices, and people having scratched their itch for new curtains, bedsheets, and ottomans since 2020.
 

Bed, Bath and Beyond was sued in a Class Action Lawsuit and Gustavo Arnal was named as one of the defendants in this suit prior to him leaving the way he did.



Arnal was among the defendants named in a class-action suit that claims that he was among a group of stock traders who artificially inflated Bed Bath & Beyond's stock in what is called a 'pump and dump' scheme.

Arnal recently sold more than 50,000 shares when the stock was in the upper $30s a share. A short time later it plunged to less than $10.

On Wednesday, Bed Bath & Beyond said it will close 150 stores and lay off workers in a bid to turn around its beleaguered business.

The home goods retailer based in Union, New Jersey said it will also slash its workforce by 20%. It also said it is considering selling more of its stock to shore up its finances and had lined up more than $500 million of new financing.
 
Bed, Bath and Beyond was sued in a Class Action Lawsuit and Gustavo Arnal was named as one of the defendants in this suit prior to him leaving the way he did.
Companies are getting sued all the time. And the suit was a civil, not a criminal action. No different than those ads on cable asking if you were exposed to some chemical or used a particular product.

America is the world's most litigious nation, and most of those suits go nowhere. Someone made a bad investment, and wants to blame someone else.
 
I don't have access to any executive's contract at BB&B but most of the folks on the executive floors have a "golden parachute". There is usually is liability insurance to protect executives from poor performance and stupid decisions. They might get fired but their severance is a lot more than the two weeks and vacation time payment a lot of people get. The cooperate liability does not protect you from insider trading, lying on paperwork handed into SEC, and lying to the media (especially if you benefited from the misinformation). BTW: There are some nation security exceptions* but I don't think BB&B comes under that. Suicide voids the life insurance policies.

IMHO Even if he cooked the books, financially he was better off alive. I assume he was a good numbers guy. If he had to do time the executive prisons are better than some Motel 6's I have stayed at. I believe unfortunately there was a mental health issue that wasn't treated. The only thing you can do is pray for his family.


* The Greenbrier Hotel was the site of Congress's "bomb shelter". There were millions of dollars spent that never showed up on the books of the owner C & O later CSX railroad.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.


Back
Top Bottom